A difference (Varian x Cassandra)
by StrangeSareena
Summary: This is a fanfic on Varian and Cassandra from Tangled the Series. All Varian needs is someone to save him, like Rapunzel saved Eugene, and Cassie is hoping that her thoughts, her letters, make a difference...but what happens when it's her turn to need saving? Who will make a difference? (I originally wrote this on Wattpad but I decided to post it here as well)
1. Prologue

It was a windy night. The stars were shining brightly in a clear summer sky. The fire blazed as Eugene cooked their dinner over it. Everything was peaceful. And Rapunzel couldn't stop thinking about Varian. "I still feel guilty. I know it wasn't entirely my fault but I should've been there for him. I should've been able to help him. He did have a reason not to trust me. I did break my promise." she spoke out of the blue, breaking the silence.

"Raps, stop wasting your time thinking about that criminal." Cassandra said bluntly.

"Do you honestly believe that's all he is now?" Eugene said so quietly they weren't sure if he'd spoken at all.

"Cass, Eugene's right. Just because he made some mistakes doesn't mean he's all that bad. Eugene used to be a criminal. Lance was too, well I'm not sure if he's stopped stealing entirely, but you know what I mean. You were friends with him once too. You know how sweet the kid was. Losing his father changed him." Rapunzel reasoned.

"Hey!" Lance yelled indignantly from where he was, it surprised them a bit as they thought he was already asleep.

"Just because he was going through something doesn't mean he should attack his kingdom and kidnap the queen!" Cass almost yelled, ignoring Lance.

Rapunzel winced. The memories and the fear and grief that went with them were still fresh. "Don't you think I know that? Don't you know how much I hated him for doing that? But I knew that he had every right to hate me too. I still don't trust him, and I know that he has to endure the consequences of his actions, but I know we can still help him. Honestly, you know what else scares me? The fact that I probably would've done the same if I was in his situation." Rapunzel murmured.

Cassandra and Eugene sighed. "I know I wish I could've been there for him too. The kid looked up to me. What I went through wasn't half as much as what he has. You know why? Because Rapunzel saved me. He just needs to find the right person to save him."

Rapunzel's eyes went wide as it usually did when she had an idea, "That's perfect Eugene! We need the person he cares about or looks up to most, other than his father of course, to give him some positivity! His hatred will at least be lessened, and maybe over time, it'll make a difference. Maybe he'll be whole again one day. Why don't you write him a letter to cheer him up, ask him how he's been. I'm sure anything can make a difference when you're in a jail cell with nothing to do but build up your hatred."

Eugene replied,"That's a great idea, Rapunzel, but I'm not the person he cares about most besides his father. That'd be miss cold and frosty with the creepy owl over there."

Cassandra stopped stroking Owl's feathers and asked, "Why me? I wasn't even such a great friend to the kid before he committed treason, why would I make a difference?"

"He looked up to you and cared about you so much Cassandra, he constantly tried to impress you. He even named an element after you! I think right now what he needs most is a letter from Cassie." Eugene reminded.

"I feel left out, Shorty..." Lance mumbled to the small man beside him in the background.

Cassandra was quiet for a long time. Just when they thought she might've fallen asleep, she uttered a single word, "Alright."


	2. The first letter

Queen Arianna walked through the many corridors of the jail of Corona. She had received two letters that morning, one from her daughter, informing her that they were safe and recounting their last adventure, and the other which simply read on it's envelope, from Cassie to Varian. She had insisted that she would deliver it to him personally for two reasons. First, she wanted to be sure he would get it, second, she wanted to see how he was doing. Committing treason didn't make him any less of a scared, lonely child. She arrived in front of his cell and beheld a pale boy with eye bags beneath his eyes. There wasn't anything to do in the cell other than eat, sleep, walk and think. It seemed to Arianna that he wasn't doing enough of the second and too much of the last. "What did an unimportant criminal like me do to deserve the attention of your highness?" his voice was dripping with sarcasm.

"You know, you should sleep more. It's not healthy for a kid like you." Arianna mused.

"You know, you should mind your own business. It's not healthy for a queen like you. It's not like anybody cares what happens to me anyway." Varian shot back.

Arianna was quiet for a moment. Then she slipped the letter through the bars and said, "She might." With that, the queen of Corona left.

Varian ignored the letter for hours, staring at the ceiling. Finally, when his curiosity got the best of him, he sneaked a peak at the envelope, it was from Cassie. He couldn't help himself, he carefully opened the envelope and set it aside. He stared at the letter, at the pretty cursive writing of the person he felt most guilty to, after his father. The letter smelled of hope to him, and this is what it read.

_Dear Varian,_  
_How are you doing? I'm sure it must be pretty boring in that jail cell so I thought to send you a letter. I want you to know that I don't agree with what you did, the law is there for a reason, and you have to pay for your actions, but I understand why you did it. I would do anything to save my dad and make him proud too. I believe there's still some good in you, even if you might not. Oh, and is Rudiger fine? I'm glad that he's always there for you. I'm not really good with these "inspirational letters" or whatever, but these are my thoughts, and I hope they make a difference. Goodbye for now, kid. I hope you know Raps and I are doing everything we can to free your father at the moment. You don't need to trust her, but trust me at least._  
_ Sincerely,_  
_ Cassie_


	3. I only have you

Varian stared at the letter on his lap for who knows how long. He carefully folded it and replaced it in it's envelope. He tucked it under the pillow of his cot and lay down. Before he fell asleep in the cell where the only sound that could be heard was the dripping from the leaky roof, he whispered to no one and everyone, "It's probably not true, but maybe someone does care."

Meanwhile, Cassandra was looking at the stars. Eugene and Rapunzel fell asleep before her, and boy could they snore. She couldn't sleep, so she decided to just stare at the stars and appreciate the fact that she was on an adventure with her friends. She was excited, maybe even nervous, but she wasn't scared. She liked this adventure. She wasn't cooped up in Corona anymore. She was wild and free, and she could do it while helping her kingdom! Her life was great. She wondered if her parents would've been proud of her. She hoped so, but she would never know. Then, for some reason which even she didn't know, her mind wandered to Varian. She wondered how someone could change so drastically, from a friend to the enemy of the entire kingdom. She thought, _Well, wether the kid believes us or not, we're going to do our best to help his father, he was also the king's friend. I hope he'll be back to his old self once his father's saved._  
She finally fell asleep to her owl's hooting and the crickets' chirping.

The next day, when he woke up, Varian acted as if nothing changed. He ate the food they gave him, pet Rudiger every once in a while and thought of possible ways to escape. Sometimes he'd think of a chemical that he would try to use to free his father when he got out. He continued like this until late afternoon, which he knew only because of the tiny window above his cot which of course had bars on it. He moved the pillow aside and took the letter, his hands shaking and his face revealing that he hadn't expected the letter to still be there. Maybe he had dreamt all that had happened. But no, here the letter was. He smoothed the letter out and replaced it under his pillow. He pet Rudiger and placed him on his lap. He began talking, "It would be impossible for them to actually care about me. It's probably a trick for them to get my trust back, maybe they need me for something. Why else would Cassie write me a letter? She's the most nationalistic person I know, she wouldn't write to someone who committed treason! She wouldn't understand! I only have you left Rudiger, you're my only real friend." Rudiger brushed himself against Varian and fell asleep on his lap. Varian sighed and rest his head back against the cold stone wall.


	4. The happy birthday letter

Queen Arianna found herself walking down the same corridor in the jail of Corona. She received a letter today and it was for Varian. She smiled at the boy when she arrived at his cell. "I've got another letter for you here, Varian." she said as she put it on the floor of his cell.

He looked at the letter then at her and replied, "I didn't know the queen had a part-time job as my mailman. Is this going to be a usual thing from now on, your majesty?"

"I don't know, Varian, I don't know." she answered.

The queen of Corona left as she did last time, but there was something different, she had a smile on her face. Arianna thought that Varian seemed to have slept more, she would have to see how Cassandra's letters would affect him in the future. _Finally something interesting to watch, _she thought.

Varian stared at the letter for a while then sighed. He looked at Rudiger and his raccoon nudged him. Varian got up from sitting on his cot and walked towards the letter and picked it up. "Well, I don't have anything better to do. Might as well read it. You gotta admire their commitment to tricking me, though." Varian breathed.

He opened the envelope to see Cassandra's familiar, neat handwriting.

_Dear Varian,_

_Well, a lot of interesting things happened in the past month I haven't written. But first, happy birthday! I know this probably won't get to you in time but here it is anyway. We're closer to finding where the rocks are pointing. We met some people along the way evacuating from a village further north. They wouldn't tell us why, just to stay away from there. Of course, Raps being Raps, she insisted we find out. We haven't gotten there yet but we were already attacked by some masked men. We all got out alive, though Eugene's arm got a wound from their sword. Oh, that reminds me, he says hello. Also, you can write to me if you want, I guess. I learned from one of the Queen's letters to Rapunzel you weren't sleeping enough, why? I'm not gonna tell you to because that'd be nosy of me, I'm just curious. Well, I hope your birthday wasn't too horrible, goodbye for now._

_Sincerely,_  
_Cassie_


	5. The Queen knows all

Varian had a small smile on his face as he was reading his letter, someone had remembered his birthday! However, it disappeared when he remembered he was in a jail cell and it was because of _them_. Varian hurriedly replaced it into its envelope and shoved it under his pillow, he huffed at Rudiger. "Don't look at me like that! You know if she cared she would've found a way to set me free instead of guilting me and trying to make me think I'm wrong! Corona _abandoned _us!" he exclaimed to the frightened raccoon.

Rudiger whimpered and brushed himself against his master. "Come on, buddy. Let's think. I'm sure there's a way to get dad out of the rocks other than using Rapunzel. Maybe that mysterious acid we found?" Varian continued to speculate and talk to the raccoon until the sun went down and his tasteless supper was delivered.

He gave half of it to Rudiger and ate the rest wordlessly. He lay down on his cot and sighed. Rudiger lay down beside him after licking his paws. He closed his eyes and fell into his usual fitful slumber.

Meanwhile in the castle of Corona... "I really shouldn't have peaked at that letter...but it was quite worth it," Arianna confessed.

"What are you going on about, dear?" King Frederic asked.

"Well, Rapunzel has a plan on how to bring Varian back to the right path..." the Queen trailed off.

"What?! Why would you two even bother about him? He kidnapped you and endangered all of Corona!" he roared.

"Frederic! He's Quirin's son!" Arianna scolded.

"Fine. How do you plan on fixing him then?" her husband grumbled.

She explained, "Since you say that giving a _child _therapy while he's in jail wouldn't be possible, Rapunzel thought of another way. When they were all still friends, Rapunzel and Eugene noticed that Varian looked up to Cassandra, you know, the Captain's daughter? I believe Rapunzel's exact words were, _I guess he always thought of her as a big sister-"_

The King interrupted, "Where exactly is this going?"

"Yes, yes, I'll get there. So Rapunzel thought he must be feeling alone right now and even abandoned. It would be much easier for him to get rid of his hatred for Corona if he knew that somebody here cared about him. Why not have Cassandra send him letters? It would cheer him up or at least take his mind off how to destroy us for a while," his wife continued.

"Hmmm, I'll allow it, since it won't put either of you in danger," Frederic decided.

She scoffed, "As if _our _daughter would care if you didn't. Even if you sent a royal decree forbidding her or Cassandra from doing so, she would throw it in their campfire and pretend she didn't receive it. She would do anything if she believed that it was for the good of Corona."

"And how exactly would this benefit anyone other than Varian?" he sceptically asked.

"For one thing, one less enemy. I also believe that this boy has potential to be someone great. His alchemy may be dangerous but it would prove useful. Maybe he can become a royal alchemist one day," she replied.

"Do we even have a royal alchemist?" the King of Corona asked, not knowing his own staff.

"I don't know, but we're the rulers, we can make it a thing if it isn't already," she answered nonchalantly.

"Fine, I don't promise anything, though," he warned.

"I for one think our daughter's plan will work. She's often right. She just got one thing wrong though," Arianna declared.

"What's that?" he asked.

"Varian doesn't think of Cassandra as a big sister, he thinks of her as far more than that. It's too bad that she thinks of him as a kid," Arianna revealed.

"Could they end up together?" Frederic wondered.

"She'll come around. They're only four years apart. Look at Rapunzel and Eugene, their age gap is twice as those two's and it doesn't bother them. Trust me, the Queen knows all," she reasoned.

"Yes, well it's time to stop gossiping and time for us to sleep, dear," he said with a yawn.


	6. A reply and a missing raccoon

Queen Arianna walked down the corridor of the dungeon briskly, worrying with each step. It had been a month since her daughter had sent her a letter. She was about to lose her head when she thought of taking her chances and sending a letter to the village her daughter mentioned. She didn't remember the name at the moment, it was long and whimsical but it was no matter, she would simply reread her Rapunzel's letter. As she had been writing it, her mind drifted to the boy in the jail cell with blue eyes so hollow she might've thought he couldn't see if she hadn't known better.

She decided to pay him a visit, see how stable he was, and to see if he might want to send a letter as well. She stopped and looked in, a bit surprised there was no raccoon draped around his wiry arms and said, "Hello, how's the little alchemist doing?"

"As fine as that dead rat in the corner," came the bored, raspy reply.

"Well I'd just like to inform you that there's been no news from them so I'll be sending the village they mentioned a letter, perhaps they'll get it," she continued.

Varian finally stopped staring dismally at the ceiling and stared at her straight with his soulless eyes, "Why are you telling me this?"

Arianna stares straight back at him, completely unafraid of the broken boy's demeanour and flatly asks, "Why do you think?

Arianna waited for a reply but none came so she turned on her heel, knowing full well he wouldn't be able to resist this opportunity, "Can I-I have a-a pen and paper? I guess I could bother to send a short letter to Cassandra -to Cassie."

Arianna smiled her always knowing smile and answered, "I'll be right back."

The boy's eyes followed her figure walking out of the dungeon and if anyone had been watching him closely enough, they would have noticed that his eyes shone with something other than hate, for the first time since Rudiger had been taken away from him because he "caused too much racket, it drives the guards close to as insane as you are".


	7. Dear Cassie

Arianna briskly strode back into the dungeon that was growing to be more familiar than it should have. "Here, I got you the paper and pen."

Varian quickly snatched the brownish paper and the lavish-looking fountain pen that was only invented a while back. He muttered something unintelligible that Arianna assumed was a thank you and started furiously scribbling and occasionally crossing out a few words. "Here I'm-I'm done," Varian slipped the neatly-folded paper through the bars without getting up from his position sitting on the floor and without making eye contact.

Arianna took it and said with a slight smile, "Thank you, I'll be sure to send it to her."

She ambled out of the dungeon and back into one of her study rooms in the castle. She murmured to her self as she sat down on one of the armchairs and unfolded Varian's letter, "No one would ever know that I read it before mailing it."

And so she did.

_Dear Cassie,_  
_Um so I know you hate that nickname please don't be mad that I used it but that's how you signed the letters so I assumed you'd be okay with it but just say if you want me to stop calling you that. So about the letters, um thank you for them. I know you're really busy having a probably awesome adventure that you're probably doing to help Corona and not because it's fun and that means you're really busy. I just wanted to send you this letter to kind of say take care and thanks again for taking the time to write to me. And you're right, it is really boring in here...Especially with Rudiger gone. Anyway, good luck and please save my dad. Also, please make sure to come back. You have to come back._  
_Rotting behind bars,_  
_Varian_

Arianna snorted at passive-aggressive close but overall the letter was pretty sweet. She sighed, she really did want everything to turn out well, but life isn't a fairytale... Once she snapped out of her thoughts she carefully folded the letter and inserted it into a spare envelope on her desk. She put the required stamps and information on both her letter and Varian's before walking out of the castle once more to mail them.


	8. Owl?

Cassandra lay there in the silence, _alone_. It was the first time in her life she actually felt...helpless. Her heavy breathing irregular, she sat up straighter against the tree behind her. The only thing with her was her satchel and she opened it to reveal a few coins and the only piece of jewellery she owned. She clutched the cassandrite close to her chest and stared at the stars before her eyes fluttered close.

Varian bolted up from his cot, eyes crazed and desperate for a moment. _Why did I wake up_? He sat back down, gripping the side of his cot with both hands, as though it were his only anchor to this world. He struggled to remember, he had a dream or a nightmare of some sort...but for the life of him he couldn't remember. He shrugged it off and tried to go back to sleep, but as usual things didn't work out for him. He stood up with an exasperated sigh and started pacing. "If I can't dream about being free might as well make a plan to _break _free," he muttered.

"Owl?" Varian asked as he surprisedly stared at the bird of prey perched on his barred window. Huh. _His _barred window, he was getting way to used to this jail cell for his liking.

"What are you doing here? Where's Cassie-er Cass?" He asked.

The owl stared blankly at him, hooted once and flew away. Varian shook his head, "It probably wasn't Cassandra's owl, I'm sure all owls look alike...now back to my plan..."

The sun had just risen when Arianna strode into the dungeons, wondering just when the route to the alchemist's jail cell had become familiar to her. She arrived to see the boy muttering about acid and velocity as he shook his head and his messy hair went every which way. She cleared her throat and he shot her a slightly annoyed look. "What is it?" he impatiently asked.

"It's been three months! We still have no idea where they are! One more month and the King will literally turn the kingdom upside down!" she burst.

"And I care about this why?" Varian indignantly asked.

"You know what? My stress levels are already high enough without you acting like you don't care. I'm going to scream into a pillow as regally as a Queen can, now," She huffed and spun on her heel to march out of the dungeon.


	9. Common enemies

Cassandra bolted upright from the cot she was lain in and immediately winced at the sharp pain in her side. She looked around, she was in some sort of tent, with herbs hanging from the ceiling? Suddenly a woman came in, she had snow white hair in a bun and golden earrings. "Oh, you're awake. Sit up and drink this," she handed Cassandra a bowl of steaming hot...something.

"Uh, no offence but why should I drink this? I don't even know who you are?" Cass asked incredulously.

"Ah, yes. You are a bit more sensible than I would think a person who managed to acquire an injury as grave as yours would be. I am Adira, and you might want to drink that if you ever want to get out of bed and find your friends," she answered as she tended to a fire in the middle of the tent.

"How long have I been out?" Cassandra asked after she finished the hot...something.

"Three weeks," came the reply.

"Three weeks?!" Cassandra almost shouted.

"Yes." Adira said.

Cass pinched her nose bridge and let out and exasperated sigh. Then a thought occurred to her, "Did you see an owl nearby?"

"One flew off soon before I found you," Adira replied as she crushed some herbs into a salve.

"Why are you helping me?" Cassandra asked after a long moment of silence.

"We share a common enemy."

"Varian, get out, get out right now!" screamed the coughing Queen as she hurriedly inserted a key into the door of his jail cell.

Varian had longed to hear the creak of that door as it swung open to free him but he never thought he would be more confused than happy when the time came. "Wha-? What's happening?"

"We're under attack! Get out! No time!" she said between coughs as she hurried off.

Varian didn't hesitate to run, survival was practically in his blood by now.  
He emerged from the top and blinked at the harsh light he hadn't seen in almost a year, though it was now partially blocked by smoke and ash. He felt a hand on his shoulder. "Find my daughter, please," the King said before disappearing back into the chaos.

Varian ran, he ran and ran even though he didn't know which way was the right one, or if there even was a right one. At one point he thought he heard the Captain say, "I know her life's not as important as the Princess's and her boyfriend's but save my Cassandra, won't you?"

He wasn't sure if that was just his imagination though. Cassandra was perfectly capable of saving herself, if she couldn't do that, how could he? But then he shook his head vigorously. He knew he was just fooling himself. Despite common sense he would still most likely try. So he did. He trudged off once more, hoping he was going in the right direction.


	10. A beginning

"Ugh, why did I choose this route again?" Varian groaned as he trudged through the forest path, thorns ripping his blue overalls.

He heard something chirp and something howl. He hoped the latter was farther away. Of course that was the best time for his stomach to indignantly protest. _Cookiesss, cupcakesss! _It seemed to scream at him.

"Shut up," he muttered.

After a while he stumbled upon an odd house. It seemed to have been painted in a cartoonish way and absolutely abandoned. "Why do I get the feeling something major happened here?"

He bent down to inspect the ground and found a few oddly coloured feathers. He knocked on the door and when no one answered, he was relieved to find it unlocked. He crept in as silently as possible and tentatively looked around. It was a small house, with a colourful blue kitchen, a cozy-looking living room and a single bathroom. There were two bedrooms in the second floor but they were both locked. Varian wasn't too disappointed at this though, as the living room couch was still far more comfortable than his cot back in cell number 322.

"Huh, it _is _abandoned," he said as he swiped his finger on one of the kitchen counters, coming away with a layer of dust.

He ransacked the cabinets, hoping to find something to eat, and found a disturbing amount of birdseed. Eventually, he found a few dozen weird berries. He knew they might be poisonous but he was too weak and hungry to care. He popped one into his mouth, it tasted somehow both a bit too sugary and a bit too tart but he didn't seem to be experiencing anything odd so he gobbled the rest up. As he collapsed onto the soft, turquoise couch he sighed. "Good night, Rudiger. Good night, Cassie. Good night...dad," he said to the low hanging ceiling.

For the first time in many months, it didn't take more than an hour of tossing and turning for him to fall asleep. Of course, the world wouldn't be so kind to him as to let him escape suffering even in sleep. It couldn't give him a pleasant dream for once, or even no dream at all. It was the same dream as he usually dreamt. His father trapped in the crystal. The crystal erodes away and his grinning skull is all that's left. It asks him a question condescendingly, "Do you think you're worth being proud of?" This time, though, his subconscious guilt made a few adjustments, after the usual dream, it replayed but instead with Cassandra trapped, and her asking him as her hair and eyes turned blue, "The Cassandrite couldn't save me, but you couldn't either, could you?"

He woke up gasping for breath the next morning, bewildered at his surroundings, at first thinking that it was another nightmare before realising he was free, and realising this wasn't necessarily a good thing. He kept seeing her empty eye sockets, seeming to bore into his soul. He wanted to just stay like that forever, but he remembered he could still save her, and he recited this in his head like a mantra as he folded himself up and hugged his legs. He stayed like that for quite a while, just rocking back and forth, until he heard a strange noise.


	11. of the end

"Wait a minute, you can't just say that and not tell me who it is!" Cassandra protested as she walked behind Adira.

"I did. Now, hurry along. I have met your friends already, I guided them out of the deadly forest of no return, I must bring you to them, then I can interfere no longer."

"The what now?" Cassandra asked incredulously.

"Only a few have gotten out of that forest alive, I happen to be one of them," Adira declared.

"Of course, what else did I expect..." Cassandra muttered.

And so they continued to walk in silence.

"How do you even know where they are?" Cassandra asked as it started to rain.

"Here we are!" Adira announced as they arrived at an odd-looking inn.

"So? Where are they?"

"Be patient, they should arrive soon. I have to be going now," Adira bade while Cassandra stared at the building's odd architecture.

"Wait-" Cass turned only to see that she was already gone.

"Hmph. Weird Shadow lady," Cass muttered in annoyance as she looked for any sign of them.

"Let's rest there for a while!" Rapunzel told Eugene, pointing at what looked like an inn quite a while away.

"Sure! D'you think anything bad happened to Cassandra? I mean she's the Queen of Ice Demons, but she's _our _Queen of Ice Demons..." he replied, trying to make conversation, anything to keep Rapunzel's mind from what happened with Zhan Tiri's tree.

"Speak of the devil, there she is!" Eugene exclaimed in surprise as they were finally close enough to see Cassandra.

Rapunzel took off running towards her and her friends followed suit.

"Cass!" the Princess laughed as she barrelled into the older girl's arms.

"What happened? We were just sleeping one night and you just disappeared! Are you alright? Are those bandages?!" Rapunzel practically burst with questions and worries after she released Cassandra from her bear hug.

"Somebody baited me, attempted to get me lost in the forest and succeeded. They attacked me, but I don't know who it was. Got stabbed and couldn't walk, I passed out. Some Weird Shadow Lady apparently took care of me while I was out for three weeks, she said she knew you guys and that her name was Adira," Cassandra explained.

"Can we go in before you continue your chat?" Eugene asked with fake enthusiasm.

"Oh, of course! I totally forgot!" Rapunzel said as she knocked on the inn door.

An odd, yet tough-looking man opened the door for them and they went inside. Adira peered from afar, with Hector by her side.

"You are bound not to interfere anymore. She may have avoided that quarrel with the Princess, but she cannot avoid seeing the truth about herself here," Hector smiled with a slight satisfaction.

"And that whole common enemy line? What a load of bull."

"Be silent. We _do_ share a common enemy, a corrupted her," Adira retorted with a glare.


	12. A dark, dark kingdom

"What is this place?" Cassandra wondered out loud as she explored in bewilderment.

"Wait, isn't that Rapunzel's tower? But why is it glowing?" she mused after a few more moments.

The glowing seemed to grow until it almost blinded her as she heard both a man and a woman's distorted voice.

Much later...

"Be careful, we don't know what horrors lie behind that doorway..." Eugene whispered to Rapunzel.

Cassandra stumbled out of the doorway into what remained of the inn with a cough.

"It's even worse than I imagined..." he remarked.

"Cass! Thank goodness, you're safe! Are you all right? Where were you?" Rapunzel asked in concern.

"I'm fine, Rapunzel. Let's get moving, Owl. What happened here, though?" Cass gestured to the former inn, with her back turned to the rest of them as a familiar owl flew onto her shoulder.

"Oh, that. A follower of Zhan Tiri just wanted to hold Blondie hostage for a while, so we had to get rid of him, nothing unusual," Eugene replied as he gestured for them to get going.

"Ok, off to the road then, destiny calls!" Rapunzel exclaimed as cheerful as ever.

"Is no one confused as to where the owl came from?" Lance asked to no one in particular.

Meanwhile...

"What do we have here?" the warrior asked with amusement as she looked at the sleeping boy.

She had been making her rounds around the forest when she noticed that the cottage door was ajar. She went in quite cautious, well aware of what it's previous inhabitants were like. She did not expect to see a teenage boy contorted into an odd position and snoring on the dusty couch.

"Have a good nap, small fry?" she asked as Varian's bewildered eyes suddenly snapped open and looked up at her.

"Yeah...?"

"Well, come on then!" she said with a slight smirk.

"Who the hell are you...?" he looked at her grumpily.

"Adira, but you can call me Weird Shadow Lady. It's quite a popular nickname for me, apparently. Now, come. I do hope you come to your senses soon. You do want to save your Cassie don't you?" she walked to the door and held it open for the both of them.

"Ok then," Varian sighed, knowing he would most likely regret this and that it would have been so much easier to just go back to hating everything and everyone.

Adira led him through more twists and turns in the forest than he could count. He started getting nervous, it would be easier for her to kill him in an even more secluded area. He soon shrugged the feeling off, however. If he could think up and execute that grand plan a few months ago, it shouldn't be too hard to figure out an escape if he needed to. Soon, they caught glimpse of a large broken-down castle. Adira entered calmly, as if it were a normal thing to do. Varian sighed deeply, but followed her.

"What is this boy doing here, Adira?!" a middle-aged man with a regal but slightly insane demeanour asked the warrior.

"He's Quirin's son, recently escaped from Corona's dungeons. He'll be staying here for a few days. There's no problem with that as long as he doesn't go into the chamber, right, your majesty?" Adira replied.

"Quirin's son? Why was he locked up? Does Quirin know about this?" He questioned as he looked the boy over.

Varian shifted uneasily and glared at both of them in annoyance. "He committed treason. Your Majesty, were you unaware that Quirin is dead?"

"He's-he's not dead! He's just trapped and I'm going to save him!" Varian finally blew up.

"My, what an angry child. He seems to be in denial, I thought Quirin would have a brighter son. When did this all happen, Adira?" he turned to her.

"You know I can hear you right?!" Varian yelled again, his voice laced with frustration.

"Almost a year ago, your Majesty," she replied without batting an eyelash at Varian's tantrum.

"We can't have him here, it is our purpose to keep this place protected and hidden! What were you thinking, bringing a mentally unstable and potentially dangerous boy here?" the King scolds.

Her face was still emotionless but her words took a slightly harsher tone, "Your Majesty, _he's Quirin's son._"


	13. They're hiding more than just me

Varian wandered around the old castle in a daze. If it could even be called a castle; it was mostly ruins at this point. Like my life, he bitterly thought. He sat down on the stone steps that led to...somewhere. He didn't really think about where he was going and conveniently forgot about the fact that he had no clue about the layout of the castle when he woke up from his cold guest room that morning. He sighed and put his head into his hands as he recalled the events of yesterday.

"Your father was a member of the brotherhood, a name I still find odd considering one of their best members is a woman," Adira started as the two of them sat down on two dusty wooden chairs next to an equally dusty stone table.

She showed him an odd tattoo which was comprised of a circle with three slashes on her left hand.

"The brotherhood was created centuries ago, in the time where the Dark Kingdom was just as well-known and populated as Corona. Its sole purpose was to protect the Moonstone. I believe you are familiar with the Sundrop Princess, you tried to steal her power after all, didn't you?" she stared at him blankly.

"Yes, what's your point?" Varian impatiently asked.

"The Moonstone does _not_ have the same powers as the Sundrop, and approaching it will harm you. I don't even mean that as a threat. The Moonstone repels anyone who comes near it. King Edmund was injured when he tried to destroy it," She added sternly.

"I'm not _that _stupid and insane, you know," Varian commented.

She nodded after a long silence and got up to walk out but he asked, "Aunt Adira, I know you're still hiding something."

She froze but quickly covered it up with a chuckle, "Aunt Adira? Well aren't you getting attached?"

Varian just calmly shook his head and replied with a smile, "You gave me a nickname didn't you? I prefer Aunt Adira over Weird Shadow Lady, personally. I still commend the person who gave you that nickname, though. A high score on both creativity and accuracy, and a perfect one on _had the guts to actually call you that_."

Adira shook her head again and waved as she walked out the door, "I'll be sure to tell Cassandra."

A noise snapped Varian out of his thoughts. He looked up and his eyes searched for the source of the sound, he was relieved when he confirmed that it was only a crow. It looked at him oddly and let out what seemed like an indignant "Sqwuak!"

"What are you doing here?" he asked with amusement evident in his voice.

It ruffled up its feathers and soared down to the floor. It hopped towards him cautiously, and when it was close enough Varian found that he was extending his hand towards it. However, it flew away before he could touch it.

Varian shook his head as he stood up. He started walking back up the and trying to retrace his steps but he was only halfway up when the crow suddenly perched on his shoulder. He was surprised by three things, mainly. One, he hadn't seen the crow fly back. Two, the crow was carrying a vial with a luminous liquid inside. And three, the vial had a piece of paper with his name on it stuck to its side.

He tried to think as little of it as he could as he slipped the vial into his pocket and watched the crow fly off, he already had enough intrusive thoughts on his mind when he tried to sleep.

Later...

"He can _never _know, Adira. It would be dangerous for everyone, including himself. He _will _be hunted if word gets out," the King told the warrior sternly.

Adira rolled her eyes, mentally, of course. It was like the King thought she was as immature as the kid himself.

"Of course, your majesty," she said.

Varian smirked to himself as he got up from his crouch by the door. He heard everything he needed to know.


	14. Divine Intervention

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="60c6f224f7fb4b61d45971f4d1174ff3"Four weeks ago/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="fc45da11f357371ea39108069294244a"Adira was stalking prey, specifically, her brother. The most dangerous and sadistic man she had ever met. She knew that he would interfere with Rapunzel's group going through the Great Tree, and she needed to eliminate him em style="box-sizing: border-box;"now. /emShe expected it to be a hard task, what she didn't expect was to be pulled into a fortune telling tent by a woman bundled up in layers of cloaks. Especially since she was in a cave. In the middle of a forest. With no towns nearby. What a day that was./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="46da7b6565ce803192ce84e92b8fa66e""Why is there a crow on your desk?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0ffb3db97de8b0180e5c6ec6a63dd5b6"The woman seemed suddenly to remember that there was another person in her tent despite being the one to drag Adira in. She quickly took her hood off and Adira saw she was a girl in her late teens, with black hair and greyish eyes. "Apologies, apologies. My mind is often elsewhere after drinking a divination enhancer potion."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="bbe8f5c99bcedf9393adfb461b9a536d"She placed her hand on the crow's head and muttered something, in a matter of seconds the crow was not a crow but a very disgruntled Hector. "Do that ever again and I will have you and your entire clan skinned alive and your entrails dragged across a dying river!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c8f90c697eafe6b358bfb4929ca9ec29"The girl had the gall to giggle. Hector glowered in his sister's direction. "Alright, that's quite enough sibling rivalry, you two. We have important matters to discuss," she said as she calmly sat down./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c991daba59f33a31029f601cbfcbb291""State your name or I shall claim your head before Hector's!" Adira finally snapped./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="00916be49c0d68bf6ab63bda4b7bdb40""Jeez, siblings are really alike no matter how much they despise each other. Thank the gods my brother's dead. Anyway, nice people call me Madam Cheri but call me Cheri if you're rude, I guess."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f5f9bc907775e123b608ec774f5ff826"Before the two could comment, Cheri continued, "Anyway, basically I called you here because someone payed me to predict two people's future and to tell you two what to do to stop it from happening. Their names are Cassandra and Varian and, boy do they have interesti-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d92b7399058a94dc484d7708cda7ca6d""What do you mean called us here? Your tent appeared out of nowhere." Adira interrupted./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="49ac6ec16a0854d54b22fd11f5009b06""em style="box-sizing: border-box;"That's/em what you find wrong with this, em style="box-sizing: border-box;"sister?/em"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8c6b34a3d0d13bd7745beec3714b6cd6"Cheri cleared her throat in a stern manner. "To cut to the chase, in order for the Moonstone's power not to be abused and to stop hundreds of deaths, you must separate Cassandra from her group during these dates. Additionally, keep a close eye on Varian and make sure he does not interfere nor meet the group. Lest em style="box-sizing: border-box;"it /emhappen," she said as she handed Adira and Hector a piece of paper each./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f5ab163ee0ec0e60fffc44853dc604b1"The two were dumbfounded and the girl continued as she stood up, "Alright, got it? Okay, also make sure you interfere in span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;"nothing/em/span else!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="43935ac4f8e86758e7567a4ed5b6fab6"She pushed them out of the tent as Hector was trying to ask, "But who the hell are-?!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b433c15aa2185f4c3920b3175ad54849"They landed on their butts in the cave, and when they turned around the tent simply was not there. Adira style="box-sizing: border-box;" /span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"A/N/spanbr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Haha I know I updated none during vacation but in my defense, I was advanced studying so...sorry/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" /p 


	15. Cherinium

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="99148339be35dc36fef8347106d42ea5""Aunt Adira, I made us supper," Varian greets as he places two plates in front of Adira who was sharpening her blade with a contemplative look on her face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9695428ad8c24d08042d77685cbfa14e""And why are you so nice today, small fry?" Adira arched an eyebrow as she placed her sword on the chair beside her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="515305185112a5c941ef58054022b72b""Can't I be nice to the only people left in the world who give a damn about me?" He asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="58281209e2d1251a4c0482261ed1e1d7""Well my brother certainly isn't," the swordswoman shrugged./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="e4dbdb9d46054b3bebb7cea453f97762""Well whatever your point is, I'm hungry so I'm gonna eat," Varian nonchalantly replied as he plopped down into a chair across from her./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="5366a681224dc63f06d1b9abd82cd9ac"He started scarfing down the food...which was apparently a cake./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3faca50b15af0e9288f57c301d8f857d""You're eating cake for dinner?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="05d3e785511e75b2544643391b3865f6""Yes, what else would I eat?" Varian asked as he cocked his head to the side./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="57c1feb7d7b676a637482113175b27ed"Adira smirked and shook her head, just grateful that the supper he prepared her was stew and not some form of sweets./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="69ae9f90f7fe55502accfe098db005a5"She sniffed the stew subtly before cautiously tasting it. After trying and failing to detect any poison, Adira swallowed and continued to eat at the same pace, pretending to savour the stew. "So you thought I poisoned it, huh?" Varian commented as he wiped the frosting off his face with a napkin./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0f1ba6ee29ce8c27658471c691f1457e"A small smile was seen on Adira's face at the boy's perceptiveness. "And what of it? It is normal to check if your food is poisoned, no matter where or who you get it from."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="584734d5b10d075ca65a780425d95594"The two continue their supper with minimal small talk. Soon, Adira retires to her quarters. Varian saw his chance. You see, when he was bored in the dungeons of Corona, he had invented a synthetic gas. He had named this gas Quirinium, after his father. Now, the day before, he had been experimenting with the vial he had oh so mysteriously gotten. Through the long process of condensating this gas and combining this liquid with a portion of the liquid in the vial and evaporating it once more, all without proper equipment, and finding one of the few wandering servants in the castle to test the liquid in the and this new gas on, Varian had created his very own solution. This new gas he had created combined the memory erasing properties of his original gas, and the apparent mind controlling properties of the liquid. Of course, not forgetting practicality, he had the gas neatly compressed in a small sphere that when broken would release it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="6962c302632fc5a66ec1b9412e9514c2"And now, it was time for it to serve its purpose. Adira was the type of person to keep one eye open when she slept, but Varian knew how to avoid the gaze of that eye. Earlier that day he had found a hole near the bottom of the door of her quarters, giving him the idea that today was the right time. He carefully tapped the sphere so as to start a few cracks and rolled it in with a slight bounce to ensure that it would break further fully release the gas. In exactly six minutes, he would knock on the door. If Adira said something, he would flee. If she was silent he would come in./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1ccbaad2255b4922b0a8034e3685b09a"Varian pushes the door slightly after what he deemed an acceptable amount of time. He winced internally at the audible creak. He slipped inside and closed the door. He saw Adira lying still on her bed, eyes wide open and a solid purple. "Oh, Aunt Adira, could you bring me to Cassie please?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3d9a1fc91265813dd79709121e0ad400""Yes." She uttered in a monotone voice and got up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="63cd29ff2839e847d6a2501607535fc2"Varian followed her even, steady footsteps, and was eventually led to a campsite. Well it was far more fancy then most ones, considering only the horses slept outside, but there was a fire pit and everything. "Do you know any useful information?" Varian attempted before sending Adira away./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f1a73e3663a39416778adb917df4e5c3""Yes."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="26293cd955a3026ab20ad10f1a9aa8ce""Can you tell me?" He asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0d32e7aff3c5b7b17f21fe1bcabe949b""Yes."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b23038cc18f5c6643ef7532a44af1631""Tell me all the useful information you know!" He instructed, a bit irritated. He had begun to realise this might not have been the best gas to use for interrogation./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9954980f59cfc58b701376fe9138555e""Varian?" He heard a tentative question in the voice of someone who was quite sleepy and unsure if they were seeing something real or still dreaming./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="cbef675412b0238aca49f95045b6f404"Varian cursed under his breath and instructed Adira, "Go back to your quarters. You forget everything that happened tonight."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" /p 


	16. A difference---in her

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Heh, hi there, Cassie," Varian greeted as he rubbed the back of his neck./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"The older girl blinked in response./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""How did you escape from prison?" She asks tentatively but assertively, with her hand on the hilt of her sword./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""Wow, she sleeps with her sword, " /emVarian thought./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Uh, well you see, Corona was attacked and the Queen let me out-" Varian started./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Corona was attacked?" Cassandra asked./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Varian was concerned. That was not the tone of voice one concerned about one's kingdom would use in this situation./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Yes?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Nice. We've got much to discuss, runt," she said with a small smile./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""She's changed, but I don't know how," /emVarian observed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Cassandra put her arm around his shoulders and led him inside, to her partition of the caravan, "Did you grow taller? You're more or less my height now!"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Oh, I guess," Varian said with a slight blush./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Cassandra peered outside before closing the door to the caravan. Varian wondered how no one else was woken up./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"And so Cassandra started to tell a particularly long tale, which no one other than one with Varian's experiences would have listened to or believed./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Before Cassandra could even say a thing, however, Varian asked quite bluntly, "What happened to you?"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""..." Cassandra stared at him./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Varian's cheeks were dusted pink and he covered his face, "I-I just mean you-you seem different from before-I-uh..."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""From before you tried to kill all of us?" strangely, there was no hostility in Cassandra's voice, she stated it as simply as one would state a fact of life./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Uh-"/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Cassandra sat down, more accurately, plopped down onto her bed. Whatever facade she managed to put on the last few days broke quietly. "You know Rapunzel's adoptive mom? Gothel."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Yeah?" Varian prompted./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""She was supposed to be em style="box-sizing: border-box;"my /emmom. Rapunzel already has everything, she was em style="box-sizing: border-box;"born/em with everything. Why does she keep taking what little I have? Oh, I also found out that my mother was a wonderful person, a devoted follower of Zhan Tiri."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Uh-um-excuse me sorry to interrupt but, uh, isn't Zhan Tiri the evil demon dude?" Varian questioned./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Zhan Tiri was a genius sorcerer whose ways weren't accepted and were shunned by the world. Everything you know about him is propaganda, an image of him created by the royalty of Corona because he crossed them a long time ago," Cassandra recited in a monotone voice./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Ah, and, uh, how did you find this out, exactly?" Varian fidgeted with his overalls, somehow hyper aware that he hadn't changed clothes nor bathed for half a week./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""In the house of mirrors, truths are revealed. Everything about yourself and anyone who has ever walked is reflected."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Things would have been so much different if she only knew that these types of mirrors often distort images. Her story continued for a long time, catching Varian up on everything she knew so far. Varian didn't know why she was trusting him, but that didn't mean he didn't like it./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""It's alright, I believe you. Also, I know a way to help you gain her trust more, " Varian had no idea what he was doing. He had no idea if she was telling the truth or if she even em style="box-sizing: border-box;"knew/em the truth, but Cassandra was all he had now. He wasn't gonna disappoint someone else, he wasn't gonna lose her again./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Yeah?" She suddenly looked up, with what almost looked like a smile in her eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Eugene is the Dark Kingdom's lost prince. Amazing, right? What are the odds! Almost like a play, their golden lives are. Anyway, you're smart, almost smarter than I am. You know how to twist that," he said with a slight smirk and admiration evident in his eyes./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""I certainly do, thanks kiddo. We'll keep in touch?" She said, obviously with an idea in mind./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Of course. I'm currently residing in the Dark Kingdom, by the way. You already knew my dad was part of the brotherhood, right?" Varian replied after nodding./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Yeah, Adira mentioned it."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Okay. You go get your destiny, I support you fully," Varian said softly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Yeah," Cassandra muttered, clearly with her mind elsewhere./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"Varian turned to leave but just before he did, Cassandra hugged him from behind. It lasted about five seconds (thought it felt much longer) and it left Varian utterly perplexed, how out of character! Quite obviously, Varian blushed profusely. "Keep safe, kid."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;""Y-yeah," Varian murmured as he slipped out of the caravan and into the night./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"em style="box-sizing: border-box;""How am I supposed to keep safe, when you're the greatest danger here?"/em Varian whispered before falling asleep that night, unbeknownst that Adira was watching him and had seen him fall asleep with a lovesick smile./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"A/N/spanbr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"Don't ya just love it when Cass calls Varian "kiddo"...really rubs salt in the age gap wound. By the way, I have decided that this fanfic will contain 25 chapters (not including the A/N chapter)./span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" /p 


	17. Hide a tree in a forest

p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8401f96abe6ce910d660360d8e6d7b65"A few days ago...br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /"What is em style="box-sizing: border-box;"he/em doing here?" Adira spat out as she stared at the man closing the door./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ce757b224184a7763f93154ea2eb2340""Now, Adira..." King Edmund began./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="37571a8a089cd91f50bdaaf70f210b21""I'm more of a member of the brotherhood than you'll em style="box-sizing: border-box;"ever/em be, you know, em style="box-sizing: border-box;"sister/em?" Hector calmly replied as he took his boots off./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="234547309acfad123ddee30a70ed7223"—br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /"We're almost there! C'mon guys! Aren't you excited?" Rapunzel spun around at the group, full of energy as usual./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7e734311cb55beed231762db594b2a18""Yeah, just uh, give us a sec, blondie," Eugene leaned against a tree to catch his breath as Cassandra walked ahead./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="813eb1180a03e0ccb1170b1cfb26df66""Why don't we scout ahead, Raps? We need to be prepared, anyway." Cassandra gently grabbed hold of Rapunzel's arm and led her further to the front./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8713a8849f9c6affabada79c458ff4e4""Okay! Sooo, I've been thinking. Do you... em style="box-sizing: border-box;"know/em?" Cass asked her as she scanned the area quickly./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="b7a6afc82f493c0be4887907cb0a5064""Know what?" Rapunzel looked at her quizzically, her head slightly tilted to the side./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2079e5df9d55482e3a0f9157afc2e4ee""You know...about his family...has he told you yet?" She whispered./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="352d56f6666e0d1f61a602577479a0aa""What about his family? You know who they are?" Rapunzel's eyes widened./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f6f7213d1fd8b1c4e46dd693aa127ec0""Well, yeah. I heard him mumbling about it in his sleep. I didn't mean to overhear," Cassandra appeared embarrassed and rubbed the back of her neck./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="5d0565465c103c65fd50a9bda55e5310""That's weird, but if it's as personal as that, maybe he needs time and that's why he hasn't shared it with me yet," Rapunzel decided as she trained her eyes to the front./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="ad9524ac11b5fedbdd4f6a2f618c03ce""Huh, I'd think that being the Prince of the Dark Kingdom would be pretty important for you to know..." Cassandra muttered and shrugged./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="826100410e709f8cb76d071c4f0cc562""What?!" Rapunzel whisper-screamed,/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f9b4be7f1d3457aab53a139e2fb7a4f6""I'm sure it's nothing to worry about though, he maybe a forgetful idiot but he loves you, right? So he wouldn't have hid it on purpose," Cassandra said casually as she moved a branch aside./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f4a7f7c702f48110dda63e3bdbef7206""I...I suppose so..." Rapunzel answered but her steps slowed slightly and a bothered look took over her face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="dac3f40a65a9dacd27dc44c0f82f75df"Cassandra took note of this as she glanced over her shoulder./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="00357f8fb223cc9918411732509cb5e8""I was just worried because he was mumbling something about running out of time, and making his father proud...or something. It was kinda scary...reminded me of Varian," she said the last part softer than Rapunzel had ever thought possible./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1097a7fcd5ca857ee51063a9945cccc0"That was the first time Cassandra spoke of Varian without Rapunzel or Eugene bringing him up first, and the Princess noticed this immediately, as she was intended to./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="facc9cc88bc458b7862d371222459914""I-" Rapunzel started but was interrupted by Cassandra's declaration, "We're here."/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="84300772a1a89b71506d30279fcdc1b0"—/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="022197ecad07e219d3c39d0dfd43ce7d""Of course he'll love it, your highness! Don't you trust me? It's the guaranteed way to get any son to want your respect!" The cheer in the boy's voice slightly unsettled the King and he was only able to nod./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="9cad181b2f74064373772a5ea2678da5""But isn't shunning him and pretending not to care a bit em style="box-sizing: border-box;"risky/em for a first meeting?" Adira walked in, the after effects of her seeing her brother evident on her scowling face./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="3d3d6fb446299341eda10df216bb8a76""It's a calculated risk! I know him better than anyone, except maybe the Princess! I mean, he's been my idol since forever!" Varian's voice was filled with an innocence they hadn't heard from the boy before./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="7a9c1fb8813d80dc0a1631626cba1c48"Adira's scowl lessened a bit and whatever doubt lingering in the King's mind was pushed back further./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="2e7c6795eec0d69b7588d13904961475""So... what do I do? I'm not good at that sorta thing! Can't you make me a script or something?" Kung Edmund rubbed his beard in thought./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="f70c0302dc38ec3f80eacd6067898132""Oh, sure. I have plenty of time anyways," Varian said nonchalantly, as he had planned./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="83150bbdeb8ee4f945344358b9548060""They'll probably arrive this morning, so I'll get right to it after dinner," he mused and walked out./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="cbd2ab762879ce14b7590671a3316d9c""How did he know they'd get here by this morning?" The King asked Adira./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="8f7ed74522de65fc51ca80c599663c3e""Math and estimations, my king. Math," she said while pinching her nose bridge./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="d37438b79ba2860f0ac333d29d046af9""Indeed. Some calculations. Quite odd how plans need em style="box-sizing: border-box;"our/em logic but em style="box-sizing: border-box;"your/em emotions to work," Varian whispers to himself outside the room./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="1d32e21b2da3646d592dd8366370718d"After dinner and writing what he deemed a decent script, for its purposes, anyway, Varian snuck out through his window./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c867eba5b2bef2ef1e8d2bb8a0865fb8"He took a short walk and observed that the moon was nearly full that night. With his eyes on the moon, he climbed up the twenty-first tree he saw on his walk./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="a67012b809518df0c76bced9f7d5b8b8""Tell me, Cassie, where would you hide a tree?" Varian watched from afar./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="0716580a96bb8cbce6e8fe0a7f0f8188""You already know the answer."br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /—/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="75958c9fd2b60bbcb05e860d0b9f24df"Madame Cheri breathes heavily. She is very, very exhausted. The chains holding her up have begun to cut into her wrists./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="23d9ead3f6dd329e166b37408af5ef9e""Hadn't I told you not to mess with our affairs, disgraces dear?" Came the sickly sweet voice of a floating blue child./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="c57ee50298cd85f444a6a675e87477d4"The Madame closes her eyes and braces herself, it's nothing she's never felt before, after all. Pain was an acquired taste, and she's always meant to acquire it at some point./p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" data-p-id="25ba3091a6551b30d834f508e3542f2f"span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"A/N/spanbr style="box-sizing: border-box;" /span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: bold;"I'm so sorry I haven't updated in sooo long! Thanks for always being so nice to me and voting and leaving comments! ^-^ So the reason for the long time of not updating: I recently started to learn digital art and my friends and I decided to make a short comic on Webtoon! We've got the script done and I'm currently in the process of drawing it. The title is "Wednesday" and the first episode will be out by April 30! If you guys are interested it's angst with a happy ending, too, and a bit of a mystery genre! Btw my webtoon name is Makahiya—/span/p  
p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 24px; font-size: 18px; font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', 'Helvetica Neue', Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; line-height: 24px; padding: 0px;" /p 


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